Possible Significant Change to Bargaining
Earlier this week, there was a potential development that may significantly impact how the current enterprise agreement (EA) bargaining processes with the Alliance Group across the three states (Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia) are likely to proceed, going forward.
That development came about somewhat unexpectedly, during discussions conducted this past Monday (2/12), in the mandatory Fair Work Commission conciliation conference that was conducted in relation to the current Protected Industrial Action (PIA) application in Queensland.
Deputy President Lake, from the FWC, who ran the conciliation conference on Monday was prepared to consider the arguments put to him by the AFAP (and TWU) that negotiating three separate EAs with the Alliance Group, whilst at the same time leaving Northern Territory Pilots without an EA, may not be very efficient or likely to lead to the best outcome.
He proposed that it would be worthwhile for the AFAP, TWU and Alliance Group management to meet with him next Wednesday (11/12), Thursday (12/12), and even possibly Friday (13/12) in discussions, to see whether all parties can agree on a potentially more effective way to negotiate an EA or EAs for Alliance Group Pilots.
At this point, the AFAP considers it worthwhile to enter into the proposed discussions with Alliance Group management and DP Lake, as a means to try to overcome the current impasse we are encountering in all three present EA negotiations.
There will be further updates on the proposed meetings next week with DP Lake, in coming days.
Meanwhile, later this morning, DP Lake is now scheduled to also conduct the mandatory conciliation conference in relation to the current Protected Industrial Action (PIA) application in South Australia. With the plan to meet for two or three days next week, in order to hopefully achieve a significant improvement in all three current bargaining processes, any outcomes from the discussions tomorrow may be quite limited, but the AFAP representatives might be pleasantly surprised.
PIA Applications
The AFAP wants to make it very clear that the meetings next week with DP Lake do not automatically impact any aspect of the current PIA ballots underway in either Queensland or Adelaide.
In fact, in Adelaide, the PIA ballot closes this afternoon at 16:00.
If any member has not yet voted, the AFAP requests that for the benefit of all members that you :
- complete the ballot ASAP before it closes; and
- you vote "YES" to all 11 questions on the ballot.
Clearly, a strong ballot result will send a clear signal to Alliance Group management that you and your colleagues remain very committed to achieving significantly improved pay and conditions in any new EA.
Meanwhile, in Queensland, the PIA ballot opened midday yesterday.
If you are a Queensland based AFAP member, and did not get a ballot yesterday (by email) from the independent ballot company (TrueVote), please contact the AFAP urgently.
Meanwhile, our advice to all AFAP members in Queensland is essentially the same as for South Australian members:
- complete the ballot ASAP; and,
- vote "YES" to all 11 questions on the ballot.
The importance of voting ''YES'' to all 11 questions is that it gives your AFAP bargaining team the greatest amount of impact and flexibility about how PIA may be taken in coming weeks.
Unfortunately, it seems that Alliance Group management is currently still trying to get your AFAP bargaining team to accept an EA with half-baked conditions and plenty of problems, despite the overwhelming 96% "NO" vote in mid-October.
Can they really think Queensland Pilots have such short memories???
That then, leaves just Perth-based AFAP members.
For you, the AFAP is pleased to confirm that a PIA application has been drafted, and is being submitted to the FWC. Further details to follow.
Next Update
You and fellow AFAP members can expect a further update in the coming days.
Hopefully, at some point, Alliance Group management will realise that they simply cannot continue to offer you and every other Pilot they have, limited improvements in salary and conditions, when a variety of other operators are prepared to offer significantly better conditions.
If you have any questions, please contact one of your AFAP Pilot Representatives involved in the EA bargaining in your State, or alternatively contact AFAP Senior Industrial Officer James Mattner (at james@afap.org.au).